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The Cleveland Guardians (2022) and Chicago White Sox (2021) are the last two teams to win the American League Central Division title. At the outset of the 2023 campaign, Cleveland was a +195 favorite to repeat as champions. The White Sox were the +235 third choice in the this betting market, behind the Minnesota Twins (+210).

Today, as they conclude a three-game series at Progressive Field (1:10 p.m. ET), both the Guardians and White Sox not only find themselves looking up at the division-leading Twins, but also at the surprising Detroit Tigers. In the weak AL Central, only the Twins are sporting a winning record this season.

As the scuffling Guardians and White Sox clash again, Cleveland will be looking to continue to right the home ship. Monday’s 3-0 Guardians shutout was just the club’s second win in the last six home games against the ChiSox. Among AL teams, only the Oakland Athletics (five) and Kansas City Royals (six) show fewer home wins this season than the 10 earned by Cleveland entering play Tuesday.

Oddsmakers, though, are liking the Guardians in this one. Cleveland is set as a -135 home favorite over the White Sox.

White Sox vs. Guardians betting trends

The people are on board with the bookmakers when it comes to wagering on this game. In the MLB public betting trends, Cleveland is drawing the majority of the action on both the run line and moneyline splits. There’s 66% of handle and 62% of bets backing the Guardians in public run line wagering. You might want to think about fading the public on this play, though. The White Sox (25-24) are actually better than the Guardians (21-26) on the run line this season. As a home team, Cleveland is 9-13 ATS and as a home favorite the Guardians are a dismal 4-11 ATS.

As for the moneyline, Cleveland is drawing 88% of handle and 77% of bets. The Guardians are 5-2 straight up in the last seven games against the White Sox. Chicago is 3-13 SU in the club’s past 16 road games.

When it comes to the total of nine runs, the under is being strongly supported by the betting public. It’s pulling in 98% of handle and 76% of bets. Cleveland is an MLB-worst 6-15-1 on the total as a home team. Chicago is 10-12-2 on the total as a road team. However, five of the last eight games played between these two teams have gone over this total.

Cleveland struggling to close out games

Last season, Cleveland was the cardiac kids. The Guardians won 29 games in their last at-bat, including seven walk-off wins. They were 28-17 in one-run games. Cleveland posted 40 come-from-behind wins and won 13 times in extra innings. Better late than never could’ve been the team’s slogan.

This season, they’ve done a 180. When the going gets late, the Guardians get done in. On a recent 1-5 road trip through Chicago and New York, Cleveland lost three straight to the Mets by one-run margins. The Guardians were leading in two of those games and dropped one game in extra innings.

Quantrill looking sharp

May has proven to be a month for the stuff of Guardians right-hander Cal Quantrill to blossom. He’s 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over four starts so far in the merry month of May. Quantrill has struck out 14 while walking seven over 26 innings of work. Opponents are hitting just .202 off of him.

By comparison, he was 1-2 with 5.40 ERA and 1.64 WHIP through five April starts. Opposing batters touched Quantrill for a .303 average over the course of the month.

White Sox right-hander Michael Kopech has won two of this last three starts. He’s allowed only one hit in three of his last four starts. That’s the good news. The bottom line, though, is hitters aren’t going to make contact when the ball’s out of the strike zone. In his last 24.2 innings pitched, Kopech has walked 12 batters. He issued six bases on balls in 4.2 innings during a 5-1 loss to Houston. Kopech handed out five free passes over six innings on May 2 against Minnesota.

However, in his last start, Kopech worked eight-innings of one-hit ball during a 2-0 win over the Royals. He struck out 10 and didn’t walk a batter for the first time in nine starts this season. Kopech is 0-1 with a 4.61 ERA in six career appearances against the Guardians.

Best Bet: Under 9 runs (-120).

White Sox vs. Guardians same-game parlay

For an easy and simple same-game parlay on this Guardians vs. White Sox, we’ll stick with the under nine runs on the total at odds of -120. To that we will add Cleveland in the moneyline at -135.

Paired together in a same-game parlay, they deliver a betting line of+219. Place a $10 bet at those odds and a winning wager will deliver a return to you of $31.19.

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